Written by Don Byrd
If you care about religious liberty and the separation of church and state, there are lots of reasons to support the Baptist Joint Committee. Put simply, the BJC makes its voice heard.
The BJC files briefs with courts around the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, prepares educational materials on religious liberty for churches, discusses church-state issues with members of Congress and their staffs, hosts students and church groups in D.C., writes op-eds for media outlets, and writes directly to federal and state legislators to voice concern over a bill. The BJC partners with diverse organizations across the political spectrum when appropriate to further its simple and principled message: the separation of church and state is good for both.
All of those are fantastic reasons to get behind a great organization that fights every day for that important cause. If you are sold already, read no further and get started! Here is a helpful page with a contribution link and social media tools to share your support with friends and family. Plus: every contribution from a new donor, or a repeat donor who hasn’t given in a few years, or an increase in gift, will be doubled on #GivingTuesday, up to $5,000. (!)
But personally, there is still another reason central to why I am supporting the Baptist Joint Committee this #GivingTuesday: because the separation of church and state needs a strong religious voice.
As a person of faith, I am troubled that religious liberty debates in America increasingly reflect a view of church-state separation as anti-religious. The platform to express the pro-separation view seems increasingly given to those who believe religion itself is the problem.
Lost in that conversation is an important truth that I believe is worth defending: keeping government out of the religion business – whether as prayer in council meetings or as religious monuments on the Capitol lawn – is good for religion. The wall of separation is about more than keeping people free from religion. It also provides enough space for our soul freedom to be alive, our religious liberty robust, without the crutch of government support.
For me, the cause of true religious freedom is too personal and too precious to cede to voices that seek to denigrate faith.
So, if you also appreciate knowing that in today’s contentious religious liberty debates, there is a religious organization that gets it, and is committed, consider showing your appreciation with support this #GivingTuesday. The Baptist Joint Committee is the only faith-based organization in Washington dedicated solely to religious liberty and the institutional separation of church and state, and has been making a difference on those issues for more than 75 years. With our support, they will continue to be a voice advocating religious liberty for all.
